Jeremiah 30

This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

Note"The LORD" in small capitals stands for the Hebrew personal name of God, four consonants usually written YHWH. Jewish readers avoided saying it aloud and substituted the word for "Lord," and English versions have followed that practice ever since.

2This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Write down in a book every word I have spoken to you.

2Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.

NoteA "book" here is a scroll, a long strip of papyrus or leather rolled on a stick. Bound books with pages did not exist yet.

3Look, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity. I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors, and they will own it again, says the LORD.

3For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

Note"Israel and Judah" are the two kingdoms the nation had split into after Solomon: Israel in the north, destroyed by Assyria about 722 BC, and Judah in the south, with Jerusalem as its capital, conquered by Babylon in Jeremiah's own lifetime. Naming both means the whole people, including the northerners long since deported. The Hebrew phrase behind "bring back from captivity" can mean either "restore the fortunes of" or "bring back the captives of"; the two senses overlap and translators are divided.

4These are the words the LORD spoke about Israel and about Judah.

4And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

5This is what the LORD says: We have heard a cry of shaking and fear, not a cry of peace.

5For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.

6Ask and see for yourself: can a man give birth to a child? Then why do I see every man holding his stomach like a woman in labor? Why has every face turned white?

6Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

7That day is terrible. There is no other day like it. It is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he will be saved out of it.

7Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

Note"Jacob" was the ancestor whose name was changed to Israel; poets and prophets use his name for the whole nation descended from him, the way "Rome" can mean the Romans. "That day" is a set phrase in the prophets for a coming day when God acts decisively, in judgment, in rescue, or both at once.

8On that day, says the LORD who commands armies, I will break the yoke off your neck and snap the ropes that tie you. Foreigners will no longer make slaves of my people.

8For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

NoteA yoke is the wooden bar strapped across the necks of oxen to harness them to a plow. Used of people it was the standard image for being another nation's subject, paying tribute and taking orders. "The LORD who commands armies" renders a title ("LORD of hosts") whose "armies" have been understood as Israel's fighting men, the stars, or heavenly beings; the Hebrew does not specify. The Hebrew of this verse slips between "his neck" and "your neck," addressing the nation now as "he," now as "you."

9Instead they will serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

9But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

NoteDavid had been dead about four hundred years when Jeremiah spoke. "David their king" means a king of David's family line, the dynasty that had ruled Judah since David; "raise up" is the ordinary word for putting someone in office.

10So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, says the LORD. Do not lose heart, Israel. I am going to rescue you from a faraway place, and your children from the land where they are held captive. Jacob will come back and live in peace and safety, and no one will frighten him.

10Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

Note"Your children" translates a word meaning "seed", descendants of any generation, not only sons and daughters.

11I am with you to save you, says the LORD. I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you, but only as much as is fair. I will not let you go unpunished.

11For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

12This is what the LORD says: Your injury cannot be cured. Your wound is terrible.

12For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

13No one will speak up for you. There is no bandage for your sore and no medicine that will make you well.

13There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.

NoteThis is courtroom language. "Speak up for you" means act as an advocate, someone who argues your case before a judge. The verse then switches back to the image of a wound.

14All the ones who loved you have forgotten you. They do not come looking for you. I struck you the way an enemy would, and punished you the way a cruel person would, because your wrongdoing was so great and your sins were so many.

14All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.

Note"The ones who loved you" are the foreign nations Judah had courted as political allies, Egypt and others, and who failed to help when Babylon came. The prophets routinely describe such alliances as adultery, with the nation as an unfaithful wife.

15Why do you cry out about your injury? Your pain cannot be cured. I did all this to you because your wrongdoing was so great and your sins were so many.

15Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

16But everyone who eats you up will be eaten up, and every one of your enemies will be taken away as a prisoner. Those who robbed you will be robbed, and I will hand over to robbers all who took from you.

16Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

Note"Robbed" here means plundered in war: an army stripping a conquered town of its goods, livestock and people.

17I will bring your health back and heal your wounds, says the LORD, because people called you an outcast and said, This is Zion, and nobody cares about her.

17For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

NoteZion was originally the ridge in Jerusalem where the city's fortress stood; the name came to stand for the whole city and for its people.

18This is what the LORD says: I am going to restore the tents of Jacob and show pity on the places where his people live. The city will be rebuilt on its own pile of ruins, and the palace will stand where a palace belongs.

18Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.

NoteAncient towns were rebuilt directly on the flattened rubble of the previous town, so a long-inhabited site grew into an artificial mound. Rebuilding "on its own pile of ruins" is a picture of a place resettled where it always stood, not a picture of leaving it in ruins. The word behind "palace" can mean the king's residence or a fortified stronghold.

19Songs of thanks will come from them, and the sound of people celebrating. I will make them many, not few. I will give them honor, and no one will look down on them.

19And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

20Their children will be as they were long ago, and their community will be firmly settled in my sight. I will punish everyone who treats them harshly.

20Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.

Note"Community" translates a word for the people gathered as a formal assembly, the nation convened as a body, especially for worship.

21Their leader will be one of their own people, and their ruler will come from among them. I will bring him close, and he will come near to me. For who would dare on his own to come near me? says the LORD.

21And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD.

NoteThe point is that the ruler will be a native, not a governor installed by an occupying empire, as Judah's rulers had become. "Come near" and "approach" are the technical words for entering God's presence in the temple, something restricted to priests; ordinary people, and even kings, could not do it on their own initiative.

22You will be my people, and I will be your God.

22And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Note"You will be my people, and I will be your God" is a fixed formula, repeated throughout the Hebrew scriptures, that states the covenant bond between God and Israel, worded much like the mutual pledges in ancient treaties.

23Look, the storm of the LORD goes out in anger, a whirlwind that keeps on blowing. It will break over the heads of the wicked.

23Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.

NoteThese two closing verses appear almost word for word earlier in the book, at chapter 23, where they describe judgment falling on false prophets.

24The burning anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has finished the work and carried out what he has decided to do. In the days to come you will understand this.

24The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

Note"In the days to come" translates a phrase meaning literally "in the after part of the days", later on, in a future the speaker leaves undated. It does not by itself mean the end of the world.